The Anne Frank Prison Project

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Monday, 8 August 2016

The first time that we have been to
HMP The Mount as far as I can remember, but that’s not very far these days!

A fantastic event made truly great by
the group of guides that I worked with there. It is pretty true to say that
there are not that many Jewish offenders languishing in British Jails, but at
HMP The Mount, I had the pleasure to work with half a dozen Jewish prisoners,
who had volunteered their services as exhibition guides for the event. Their
own history and knowledge of Anne Frank and the Holocaust was perhaps not
surprising but their commitment to explaining the story and the lessons of
these times was truly exemplary, and was very inspiring for visitors to the
exhibition. I was very heartened to see the no. 1 Governor Mark Drury in
attendance at the closing event on Friday where our special guest Speaker
Steven Frank held us all spellbound with his story of survival from
Theresienstadt concentration camp, and how he came to England at the end of the
war and made it his home.

Our special thanks to Head of
Diversity MR Jim Bridger for doing such a grand job in organising it all.

Thursday, 4 August 2016

I first met with the Equalities team
at HMP Oakwood at the end of 2015, where we discussed having the event there in
2016. It was going to be a very special event, stretching over 2 weeks in
February.

By coincidence, our very special
Trustee and Key speaker Eva Schloss was going to be making a film with the
Japanese Broadcasting Corporation at around this time, and so it was proposed
that The JBC film Eva and the exhibition whilst at Oakwood. This request was
put to the authorities but alas the idea was eventually turned down. This was a
great disappointment to everyone concerned – but never mind.

We worked with a great group of
prisoners who acted as peer mentors in presenting the exhibition to both fellow
inmates as well as staff.

We had some wonderful feedback from
the visitors throughout the event, and it was a very positive experience all
round.

Many thanks to Neesha Ecclestone,
Patrick Woodhead and Dan Daley who organised this event and for all their
support throughout.

We are re-visiting the prison again
in April/May when we will present 2 workshops – our ‘Free 2 Choose’ debate, and
our ‘Creative writing’ workshop with Leah Thorn. Eva Schloss will also be speaking there in
April.

Monday, 16 May 2016

The very
last event of 2015 was once again in a Young Offenders Institution.

Swinfen Hall
was a very memorable event, and once again we were extremely fortunate to work
with a talented and intelligent group of young lads, who were very much
committed to the project and had immense enthusiasm for their roles in this
event.

There was a
very special evening organised for staff and family to attend, in which the
exhibition was presented to a group of 70 guests. The highlight of the event
that evening was the talk from Holocaust survivor Mindu Hornick, which was very
well received by everyone, and we were especially grateful to Governor Teresa
Clarke for attending the Thursday evening event as well as the Closing event
the following day.

Special
thanks to Equality Officer Steph Morrow for all her hard work in making this
such a success.

An event
characterised by the unstinting efforts of Diversity Officer Helen Nixon.
Everyone agreed that Helen had gone ‘above and beyond’ to make this event work,
and was extremely encouraging to all the young lads who were our guides for the
week.

A very good
percentage of the prison population were able to visit the exhibition, and it
was very gratifying to see how much they learned from this experience.

There is
some excellent work goes on in this prison, and the care that is shown for the
young people’s futures is very admirable. It can’t be easy – well done to all!